Hundreds of British Empire artifacts stolen from U.K. museum, as police release images of men carrying bags

More than 600 items from a collection documenting the links between Britain and countries in the former British Empire were stolen from a U.K. museum in September, police said Thursday.

Avon and Somerset police have launched an appeal for information about four men captured on CCTV images on September 25 outside a building in the southwestern city of Bristol which housed items from the collection.

"More than 600 artefacts of various descriptions were taken by the offenders," police said in a statement about the theft from the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection.

"The theft of many items which carry a significant cultural value is a significant loss for the city," said the officer in the case, Dan Burgan. "These items, many of which were donations, form part of a collection that provides insight into a multi-layered part of British history."

Police said they wanted to talk to four unidentified men, all wearing caps or hoodies, seen in the CCTV images carrying bags in the early hours. Authorities released multiple security camera images, showing grainy pictures of the men.

Police said one man was had a stocky build and was wearing a white cap; the second man had a slim build and was wearing a grey-hooded jacket; the third man was wearing a green cap and appeared to walk with a slight limp in his right leg; and the fourth man was wearing a two-toned orange and navy/black puffed jacket.

Police said the burglary happened between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Sept. 25, in the city's Cumberland Road area.

According to the collection's website, the "unique collection documents the links between Britain and countries in the British Empire from the late 19th century to recent times."

It contains diverse objects, many of them from the Pacific islands and clothing from African nations.

There are also photographs, films, personal papers as well as sound recordings to provide "insights into diverse lives and landscapes during a challenging and controversial period of history," the website adds.

The collection had been transferred from the former British Empire & Commonwealth Museum in Bristol when it closed in 2012.

It remained in the care of the city council, as well as Bristol Museums, which encompasses five different institutions, and the city's archives.

The revelation comes after thieves stole crown jewels from the Louvre, in Paris, in October.

And last month, dozens of ancient gold coins were stolen when a Swiss museum after a guard was overpowered by thieves, police said.

In August 2023 the British Museum in London revealed that some 1,800 items had been taken from its world-renowned collections by a former employee.  Items including "gold jewelry and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD," were found to be "missing, stolen or damaged," the museum told CBS News at the time. 

A few hundred were later recovered.

The museum's director Hartwig Fischer resigned in August 2023 after admitting the institution did not act "as it should have" on warnings that items had gone missing.

• Museums
• United Kingdom
• Robbery